Apparatus for producing a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen

ABSTRACT

The apparatus for producing a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen comprises a tube member  10  having a certain inner diameter; a first plate member unit  30  which is inserted into an inner surface of the tube member  10  and includes a plurality of first plate members  31  having a main hole  31   a  at its center, and a first inner spacing member  32  which is alternately installed with the first plate member  31  and has a certain thickness; a second plate member unit  40  which is installed in the interior of the main holes  31   a  of the stacked first plate member  31  and includes a plurality of second plate members  41  installed with being spaced apart from an inner surface of the main hole  31   a  and a second inner spacing member  42  which is alternately installed with the second plate member  41  and has a certain thickness; front and rear covers  50  and  60  which are installed in the front and rear sides of the tube member  10  and fix the second plate unit  40  with a certain space from the inner side of the main hole  31   a  and is insulated from the second plate member unit  40;  a water supply hole  70  which is formed in the front cover  50  for supplying water to the electrolyte space  10   a  formed between the first plate member unit  30  and the second plate member unit  40;  and a gas discharge hole  80  which is formed in the front cover  50  for discharging a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen produced.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to an apparatus for more efficientlyproducing a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen using water.

BACKGROUND ART

The apparatus for generating a harmful mixture of hydrogen and oxygen isdirected to generating a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen which areobtained based on an electrolysis and does not produce pollution and arenot harmful in such a manner that water with a small amount ofelectrolyte to an electrolytic cell with positive and negativeelectrodes. At this time, the hydrogen and oxygen are produced at a moleratio of 2:1, the hydrogen produced in a bubble shape at the surface ofthe negative electrode, the oxygen produced in a bubble shape at thesurface of the positive electrode. The thusly produced hydrogen andoxygen are mixed in a mixed gas form, which can burn. During thecombustion, since the mixture of hydrogen and oxygen does not producepollutants, it is very friendly and can be recognized as a new energysource.

However, since the amount of hydrogen and oxygen as compared to theelectric power used for generating the same and applied to the positiveand negative electrodes, it is disadvantageously needed to add a certainauxiliary gas such as propane gas to the mixture of hydrogen and oxygen,which leads to a bad production efficiency.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide anapparatus for producing a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen which canpromote an economic production by increasing the amount of a mixture ofhydrogen and oxygen as compared to electric energy used.

To achieve the above objects, there is provided an apparatus forproducing a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen, comprising a tube member 10having a certain inner diameter; a first plate member unit 30 which isinserted into an inner surface of the tube member 10 and includes aplurality of first plate members 31 having a main hole 31 a at itscenter, and a first inner spacing member 32 which is alternatelyinstalled with the first plate member 31 and has a certain thickness; asecond plate member unit 40 which is installed in the interior of themain holes 31 a of the stacked first plate member 31 and includes aplurality of second plate members 41 installed with being spaced apartfrom an inner surface of the main hole 31 a and a second inner spacingmember 42 which is alternately installed with the second plate member 41and has a certain thickness; front and rear covers 50 and 60 which areinstalled in the front and rear sides of the tube member 10 and fix thesecond plate unit 40 with a certain space from the inner side of themain hole 31 a and is insulated from the second plate member unit 40; awater supply hole 70 which is formed in the front cover 50 for supplyingwater to the electrolyte space 10 a formed between the first platemember unit 30 and the second plate member unit 40; and a gas dischargehole 80 which is formed in the front cover 50 for discharging a mixtureof hydrogen and oxygen produced.

The first and second plate members 31 and 41 are formed of carbon nanotube alloy steel.

The surfaces of the first and second plate members 31 and 41 arenano-polished, so that an electrolysis can more efficiently performed,and the produced bubbles of hydrogen and oxygen can be easily detached.

The tourmaline photo catalyst are attached to the surfaces of said firstand second plate members 31 and 41.

The second plate member unit 40 includes a plurality of second platemembers 41 arranged alternately with respect to one another, and asupport rod 45 which passes through a through hole formed in the secondinner spacing member 42, and said support rod 45 pass through theinsulation brackets 55 and 65 installed in the front and rear covers 50and 60 and are engaged.

EFFECTS

In the apparatus for generating a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen, it ispossible to more efficiently produce a mixture of hydrogen and oxygenwithout adding an auxiliary gas such as propane by increasing the amountof hydrogen and oxygen as compared to electric energy used, which leadsto more economical production.

Since the hydrogen and oxygen produced in bubble shapes from theelectrodes can be easily separated, the effective area of the electrodesin which electrolysis occurs is increased, by means of which anelectrolyte efficiency can be enhanced.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will become better understood with reference tothe accompanying drawings which are given only by way of illustrationand thus are not limitative of the present invention, wherein;

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating an apparatus for producing amixture of hydrogen and oxygen according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a disassembled perspective view of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view taken along the line III-III′ of FIG.1.

MODES FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

The apparatus for producing a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen accordingto the present invention will be described with reference to theaccompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating an apparatus for producing amixture of hydrogen and oxygen according to the present invention, andFIG. 2 is a disassembled perspective view of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is across sectional view taken along the line III-III of FIG. 1.

As shown therein, the apparatus for producing a mixture of hydrogen andoxygen comprises a tube member 10 having a certain inner diameter; afirst plate member unit 30 which is inserted into an inner surface ofthe tube member 10 and includes a plurality of first plate members 31having a main hole 31 a at its center, and a first inner spacing member32 which is alternately installed with the first plate member 31 and hasa certain thickness; a second plate member unit 40 which is installed inthe interior of the main holes 31 a of the stacked first plate member 31and includes a plurality of second plate members 41 installed with beingspaced apart from an inner surface of the main hole 31 a and a secondinner spacing member 42 which is alternately installed with the secondplate member 41 and has a certain thickness; front and rear covers 50and 60 which are installed in the front and rear sides of the tubemember 10 and fix the second plate unit 40 with a certain space from theinner side of the main hole 31 a and is insulated from the second platemember unit 40; a water supply hole 70 which is formed in the frontcover 50 for supplying water to the electrolyte space 10 a formedbetween the first plate member unit 30 and the second plate member unit40; and a gas discharge hole 80 which is formed in the front cover 50for discharging a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen produced.

At this time, the outer spacing member 22 is able to space a pluralityof cooling fins 21 from one another. The first inner spacing member 32spaces a plurality of first plate members 31 from one another. Thesecond inner spacing member 42 is able to space a plurality of secondplate members 41 from one another. In the present invention, the outerspacing member 22, the first inner spacing member 32 and the secondinner spacing member 42 each have the thickness of 3 mm.

The second plate member 41 does not contact with an inner surface of themain hole 31 a of the first plate member 31, but are spaced apart. Inthe present invention, the distance between the inner surface of themain hole 31 a of the first plate member 31 and the second plate member41 is 15 mm.

The tube member 10 can be implemented in a certain shape such as acircular tube shape, a rectangular tube shape, a hexagonal tube shape oran octagonal tube shape, and is generally made of stainless or an alloysteel. In the present invention, it was described or will be describedas being formed in a circular tube shape. The tube member 10 forms abody.

The cooling fin 21 of the cooling part 20 is equipped with an insertionhole 21 a into which the tube member 10 is inserted. The outer spacingmember 22 is equipped with an insertion hole 22 a into which the tubemember 10 is inserted. The diameter of the outer spacing member 22 issmaller than the diameter of the cooling fin 21. In the above structure,the cooling fin 21 and the outer spacing member 22 are alternatelyinserted into the tube member 10, so it is preferred that the coolingpart 20 is installed outside the tube member 10.

In the first plate unit 30, the first plate member 31 with the firstmain hole 31 a has a shape corresponding to the inner diameter of thetube member 10, and the first inner spacing member 32 has a shapecorresponding to the inner diameter of the tube member 10. Here, thefirst inner spacing member 32 is a circular profile larger than thediameter of the first main hole 31 a. With the above configuration, thefirst plate member 31 and the first inner spacing member 32 arealternately inserted into the first main hole 31 a, so that the firstplate member unit 30 is installed in the interior of the tube member 10.The main holes 31 a of a plurality of the first plates 31 form thecylinders.

The first plate member 31 is made of a certain material which canperform electrolysis. As one example of the above material, the firstplate member 31 is made of a carbon nano tube alloy steel. The carbonnano tube alloy steel is made in such a manner that a carbon nano tubeis powdered, and nickel and tourmaline is made in a powder form and iscompressed in a first plate material shape through a plastic process. Asan additive, a decarboxylation potassium compound might be added, andthe plastic process is performed at a temperature of about 1300° C.

The first plate member 31 might be formed of a metal such as stainlessand is nano-polished for an easier electrolysis and an easierdislocation of hydrogen and oxygen bubbles. The first plate member 31 ismade of stainless, alloy steel or the like.

The nano-polishing process is to polish the surfaces of the first platemember 31 in the units of nano. So, it is possible to easily havehydrogen and oxygen bubbles separated with the helps of a minimumfriction force of the surface of the first plate member 31. Inparticular, when the size of object in a bulk state is decreased to thenano size, mechanical, thermal, electric, magnetic and opticalproperties change. Therefore, the electrolysis of water can be moreactively performed by changing the physical properties of the surface ofthe first plate member 31.

Tourmaline might be attached to the surface of the first plate member 31as a photocatalyst. The tourmaline photocatalyst can be made by grindingthe tourmaline from a few micro sizes to a few nano meter sizes and isplastic-processed at a temperature of 1300° C. and is attached to thefirst plate member 31 using a certain adhesive. The tourmaline is amineral having a hexagonal structure having a crystal structure similarto a crystal and can be used to produce electricity by a friction methodand a lot of anion, while promoting electrolysis by means of which lotsof hydrogen and oxygen can be produced. Since the tourmaline is groundinto powder form and plastic-formed, the contacting area with water canbe increased along with more micro pores, which are beneficial tophotocatalyst. So, it is possible to promote electrolysis of water byattaching the tourmaline photocatalyst to the first plate member 31.

The second plate member unit 40 is configured as the circular secondplate member 41 being smaller than the first main hole 31 a, the secondplate member 41 having a diameter smaller than the second plate member42, and the second inner spacing member 42 used for spacing the secondplate member are alternately installed. At this time, there is furtherprovided a support rod 45 which passes through the through hole formedin the second plate member 41 and the second inner spacing member 42which are alternately arranged. At this time, the both ends of thesupport rod 45 pass through the insulation brackets 55 and 65 installedin the center of the front and rear covers 50 and 60 and are engagedwith the nut N.

The surface of the second plate member 41 is made of carbon nano tubealloy steel in the similar method with the first plate member in orderfor the hydrogen and oxygen bubbles to be easily detached or is made bynano polishing a metallic plate such as stainless or can be implementedby attaching tourmaline photo catalyst. The second plate member 41 canbe made of a certain metal such as a carbon nano tube alloy steel, astainless or an alloy steel.

Here, the space between the first plate member unit 30 and the secondplate unit 40 becomes an electrolyte space 10 a in which electrolysis isperformed.

The electrolysis occurring in the electrolyte space 10 a is particularlyperformed between the inner portion of the first inner space member 32and the second plate member 41 in the first plate member 31. It ispossible to change the amounts of hydrogen or oxygen produced bychanging the area of the inner portions of the first inner spacingmember 32 and the area of the second plate member 41. For example, it ispossible to produce more hydrogen gas as compared to the oxygen by moreincreasing the area of the second plate member 41 as compared to thearea of the first plate member 31 exposed in the inner direction of thefirst inner spacing member 32 and by applying the positive power to thefirst plate member unit 30 through the tube member 10 and the negativepower to the second plate member unit 40. On the contrary, it ispossible to produce more oxygen gas by applying the negative power tothe first plate member unit 30 and the positive power to the secondplate member unit 40.

The front and rear covers 50 and 60 are installed at both ends of thetube member 10, and insulation brackets 55 and 65 are installed at acenter of the same for supporting the supporting rod 45 of the secondplate member unit 40. The front and rear covers 50 and 60 are preferablyequipped with a substantial durability for stably supporting the supportrod 45 of the second plate member unit 40. It is preferably made of athick metallic material as compared to the first and second platemembers 31 and 41.

At this time, connecting the front and rear covers 50 and 60 at the bothends of the tube member 10 can be implemented in various methods. Forexample, the flanges P1 and P2 are welded at both ends of the tubemember 10, and the front and rear covers 50 and 60 are coupled to theflanges P1 and P2 using bolts and nuts. When a thread part and a nutpart are formed between the front and rear covers 50 and 60 and the tubemember 10 for a thread engagement, it is possible to engage the frontand rear covers 50 and 60 to the tube member 10 without using theflanges. The thread part and the nut part are formed between eitherfront or rear cover 50 and 60 and the tube member 10, and the flange isinstalled between either the front or rear cover 50 and 60 and the tubemember 10, so the front and rear covers 50 and 60 can be engaged to thetube member 10.

The water supply hole 70 is installed in a front lower side of the frontcover 50 in one pair for thereby supplying water to the electrolytespace.

The gas discharge hole 80 is installed in a front upper side of thefront cover 50 for thereby a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen gasesproduced in the electrolyte space is discharged. Here, the water supplyhole 70 is formed in a lower side of the gas discharge hole 80.

The photocatalyst tube 90 partitions the first and second plate memberunits 30 and 40, and the tourmaline photo catalyst is formed in a tubeshape. The tourmaline is ground into a powder form by a few micro sizesor a few nano meter sizes and is plastic-formed in a tube shape at atemperature of about 1300° C. The photo catalyst tube 90 produces a lotof anion during the electrolysis, by means of which the electrolysis isfurther promoted. It plays a role of filtering fine plate particleswhich might be produced from the first and second plate member units 30and 40 in the course of electrolysis. When the first and second platemembers 31 and 41 are broken and separated, it is possible to prevent anelectric circuit short by means of the first and second plate members 31and 41.

With the helps of the above structure, water can be supplied to theelectrolyte space through a pair of water supply holes 70, and thepositive power is applied to the first plate member unit 30 through thefirst tube member 10, and the negative power is applied to the secondplate member unit 40. So, hydrogen and oxygen bubbles are producedbetween the first and second plate members 31 and 41 in the interior ofthe electrolyte space 10 a, and the hydrogen and oxygen gases are mixedand discharged to the outside through the gas discharge hole 80.

As the present invention may be embodied in several forms withoutdeparting from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof, itshould also be understood that the above-described examples are notlimited by any of the details of the foregoing description, unlessotherwise specified, but rather should be construed broadly within itsspirit and scope as defined in the appended claims, and therefore allchanges and modifications that fall within the meets and bounds of theclaims, or equivalences of such meets and bounds are therefore intendedto be embraced by the appended claims.

1. An apparatus for producing a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen,comprising: a tube member 10 having a certain inner diameter; a firstplate member unit 30 which is inserted into an inner surface of the tubemember 10 and includes a plurality of first plate members 31 having amain hole 31 a at its center, and a first inner spacing member 32 whichis alternately installed with the first plate member 31 and has acertain thickness; a second plate member unit 40 which is installed inthe interior of the main holes 31 a of the stacked first plate member 31and includes a plurality of second plate members 41 installed with beingspaced apart from an inner surface of the main hole 31 a and a secondinner spacing member 42 which is alternately installed with the secondplate member 41 and has a certain thickness; front and rear covers 50and 60 which are installed in the front and rear sides of the tubemember 10 and fix the second plate unit 40 with a certain space from theinner side of the main hole 31 a and is insulated from the second platemember unit 40; a water supply hole 70 which is formed in the frontcover 50 for supplying water to the electrolyte space 10 a formedbetween the first plate member unit 30 and the second plate member unit40; and a gas discharge hole 80 which is formed in the front cover 50for discharging a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen produced.
 2. Theapparatus of claim 1, further comprising a cooling part 20 which isinstalled in an outer side of the tube member 10 and includes aplurality of cooking fins 21 and an outer spacing member 22 which isalternately installed with respect to the cooling fin 21 and has acertain thickness.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising aphoto catalyst tube 90 which is installed between the first plate memberunit 30 and the second plate member unit
 40. 4. The apparatus of claim1, wherein said first and second plate members 31 and 41 are formed ofcarbon nano tube alloy steel.
 5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein thesurfaces of said first and second plate members 31 and 41 arenano-polished, so that an electrolysis can more efficiently performed,and the produced bubbles of hydrogen and oxygen can be easily detached.6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein tourmaline photo catalyst areattached to the surfaces of said first and second plate members 31 and41.
 7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said second plate member unit40 includes a plurality of second plate members 41 arranged alternatelywith respect to one another, and a support rod 45 which passes through athrough hole formed in the second inner spacing member 42, and saidsupport rod 45 pass through the insulation brackets 55 and 65 installedin the front and rear covers 50 and 60 and are engaged.